Haha! I feel the same way and sometimes I feel like there is something wrong with me. I could care less about going the extra mile at work or trying to excel or advance at work. I just want to get through the day and concentrate on training. I want my work schedule to be ideal for my training schedule. Not sure what all that says about me.

The saying that I follow is that I work to live. I don't live to work. My priorities in life are family, my personal well being, work and in that order. I will go extra at work at times but that is because I do strive to be good at what I do. But I won't let it overtake my family or my personal well being.

Tri's and training are part of my personal well being.

You can work full time, and train 10-20 hours/week. I've been doing this for the last 33 weeks. I do have an understanding family and I have made adjustments to my schedule to accommodate everything going on. I've missed some training days, shortened some others. It is really all about balance and knowing how to balance everything so nothing is totally disregarded. Well except maybe my lawn j/k.

Best thing to do is find that a job that is flexible. The job does need to pay somewhat decent too because as you know tri's are not cheap. You have a wetsuit, bike, running shoes, clothes for each event, entry fees, travel, lodging etc etc. So the job pay will need to help support your habit.

I love to tri, but ultimately it will always be just a hobby. My work and my family have to come first.

Agree. Family, career, friends and hobbies (Tri is one of them).
For me, I do triathlons not for racing it, but achieving a goal and keeping myself fit. (that would explain why I am not fast. though...)

In corporate America, the beginning of your career is very important. If your mailing it in your supervisors will notice and you will not advance. It may seem like no big thing at 25 years old, but you would be giving up a lot of money and opportunity. Your income can rise considerably faster than normal in those first years and you will start to get on the radar of people in decision making roles. Firms are always on the lookout for young talent. You WANT to be the young talent. If your firm doesn't recognize talent, go work someplace else. I cannot stress enough, you WANT to be considered young talent. Wait till your forty before you start mailing it in

That said, I'm not suggesting you give up everything for your work, finding a good balance is very important. It may seem like juggling work and training is hard, but its not. That's mostly a function of the fact that your 25 and still haven't figured out how to organize your time yet. It takes time, you'll get it eventually. I really sucked at it until I had kids, now I can juggle time with the wife, kids, work, and triathlon pretty well. I laugh when I think about how unproductive I really was at your age.

Originally posted by TriTC I've recently gotten into triathlons.....I'm pretty sure I will be doing triathlons for the rest of my life. I absolutely love the training. I feel like a million dollars every day. I'm 25 years old, switching careers at the moment. My perspective on work and life has changed over the passed 2 years (not because of tris). Now, I just want a career that will allow me to train 10-20 hours a week and also enjoy the work. Not worried about the pay because if the career allows me to Tri and I also enjoy the work....I'll be much happier than any amount of money. How do you guys feel about your career & Tris ? Ever made any career decisions impacted by the fact that you Tri?

Nothing like being 25.

How fast are you? If you can pay the bills with triathlon than by all means.......get after it. If you can't, remember that it's a hobby, a lifestyle if you are lucky, but it won't take the place of a career, and it shouldn't come first.

But yeah, for now, enjoy yourself...... just keep an eye toward your future if you plan on having one.

Hate to sound like a Debbie Downer but the grass will always be greener on the other side of the fence. That and life is a giant catch 22 at times. The people who have all the time they want don't have the resources to pay for races or equipment they want and then there are those who are really successful and have plenty of discretionary income to spend on tris but can't find the time to get away to train and race the way they would like.

In corporate America, the beginning of your career is very important. If your mailing it in your supervisors will notice and you will not advance. It may seem like no big thing at 25 years old, but you would be giving up a lot of money and opportunity. Your income can rise considerably faster than normal in those first years and you will start to get on the radar of people in decision making roles. Firms are always on the lookout for young talent. You WANT to be the young talent. If your firm doesn't recognize talent, go work someplace else. I cannot stress enough, you WANT to be considered young talent. Wait till your forty before you start mailing it in

That said, I'm not suggesting you give up everything for your work, finding a good balance is very important. It may seem like juggling work and training is hard, but its not. That's mostly a function of the fact that your 25 and still haven't figured out how to organize your time yet. It takes time, you'll get it eventually. I really sucked at it until I had kids, now I can juggle time with the wife, kids, work, and triathlon pretty well. I laugh when I think about how unproductive I really was at your age.

I agree and will add that the more I have to do, the more efficient I have become at doing it. I've been working 60 hour weeks and training for an HIM. To think of the time I wasted in my youth.

I've recently gotten into triathlons.....I'm pretty sure I will be doing triathlons for the rest of my life.

I absolutely love the training. I feel like a million dollars every day.

I'm 25 years old, switching careers at the moment.

My perspective on work and life has changed over the passed 2 years (not because of tris). Now, I just want a career that will allow me to train 10-20 hours a week and also enjoy the work.

Not worried about the pay because if the career allows me to Tri and I also enjoy the work....I'll be much happier than any amount of money.

How do you guys feel about your career & Tris ? Ever made any career decisions impacted by the fact that you Tri?

One of the reasons I left the corporate world was because I had zero control over my schedule. The money was great but I was never home, always on a plane or in a meeting. You're young and can make some decisions now, but expect things to change over time.

Not the decision you're looking for, but last Friday I decided I was pulling out of Ironman Lake Placid this year. It is entirely for business reasons. Things there are at a crucial point and I simply cannot afford the time for training and racing. It was a killer decision after 4 months of solid preparation, but it is the right one. I'm 51, have lots of people depending on me both within the company and in my personal life. As my coach said when I was agonizing over this "Ironman will always be there. There's always another race."

It's all about priorities and time management. I still get to swim at lunch and bike on a sunny afternoon. But it's still a balancing act, and sometimes the scales need to tip one way or the other, and not necessarily in the direction you want. AT THAT MOMENT

Originally posted by TriTC I've recently gotten into triathlons.....I'm pretty sure I will be doing triathlons for the rest of my life. I absolutely love the training. I feel like a million dollars every day. I'm 25 years old, switching careers at the moment. My perspective on work and life has changed over the passed 2 years (not because of tris). Now, I just want a career that will allow me to train 10-20 hours a week and also enjoy the work. Not worried about the pay because if the career allows me to Tri and I also enjoy the work....I'll be much happier than any amount of money. How do you guys feel about your career & Tris ? Ever made any career decisions impacted by the fact that you Tri?

One of the reasons I left the corporate world was because I had zero control over my schedule. The money was great but I was never home, always on a plane or in a meeting. You're young and can make some decisions now, but expect things to change over time. Not the decision you're looking for, but last Friday I decided I was pulling out of Ironman Lake Placid this year. It is entirely for business reasons. Things there are at a crucial point and I simply cannot afford the time for training and racing. It was a killer decision after 4 months of solid preparation, but it is the right one. I'm 51, have lots of people depending on me both within the company and in my personal life. As my coach said when I was agonizing over this "Ironman will always be there. There's always another race." It's all about priorities and time management. I still get to swim at lunch and bike on a sunny afternoon. But it's still a balancing act, and sometimes the scales need to tip one way or the other, and not necessarily in the direction you want. AT THAT MOMENT

Good post Brian.

Triathlon, work, family, other hobbies, spirituality, etc.

There will always be more than one priority, more than one thing about which you are or should be focused.

Like Brian said, it will feel like a balancing act and things will tip one way, then back the other, maybe altering plans you already thought were set in stone so flexibility is a necessity to avoid being short sighted.

The key is to keep reassessing to make sure you feel that life balance. If not, change something.

This thread really hits home for me and I am a lot older than you. I'm a 48 year old woman. From the time I was 16 years old until my mid-30's I followed my dream and trained horses. It was back-breaking work and finally, with a small child and no partner to help me, I decided I should do the "right thing" and go back to school for a real job. Fast forward 13 years and my daughter is grown and married. I am a legal secretary/assistant/paralegal making okay money in NJ and I despise it. My present job is the least horrible of the 3 that I have worked in this field but I really do hate the 9 to 5 grind and stress. I fell into the bottle quite a bit about 6 years ago but I also discovered triathlon. Thankfully, triathlon saved me from my self and I no longer drink to "wind down" from my $hitty days. Triathlon has become a huge part of both mine and my fiancé's life and it has definitely brought us to a much healthier lifestyle.

Earlier this year I was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. I just wrapped up radiation treatment and my prognosis is very good. My fiancé and I are moving to Florida in one year and taking my mother with us. We have already started to get our life simpler - giving up expensive cell phones, dropping cable t.v. that we don't even watch, paying off the car, etc.

I'm not saying that you can't do both. If you truly enjoy your career then more power to you. But in my case, when I told the timekeeper at my office that I had to leave 30 minutes early each day to receive my radiation treatment for 20 days I was told that I would be docked that 30 minutes unless I came in earlier or didn't take a lunch on those days. That's when it kinda hit me...

You can quickly become a slave to making more and more money but then you turn around and the things that really matter to you cannot be bought.

I will gladly wear my old tri clothes and ride my 2011 Kestrel if I can free myself of the office life.

Follow your heart and don't let anyone sway you. Anyone can be a cubicle occupant but not everyone has what it takes to be a triathlete.

The saying that I follow is that I work to live. I don't live to work. My priorities in life are family, my personal well being, work and in that order. I will go extra at work at times but that is because I do strive to be good at what I do. But I won't let it overtake my family or my personal well being.

I've recently gotten into triathlons.....I'm pretty sure I will be doing triathlons for the rest of my life.

I absolutely love the training. I feel like a million dollars every day.

I'm 25 years old, switching careers at the moment.

My perspective on work and life has changed over the passed 2 years (not because of tris). Now, I just want a career that will allow me to train 10-20 hours a week and also enjoy the work.

Not worried about the pay because if the career allows me to Tri and I also enjoy the work....I'll be much happier than any amount of money.

How do you guys feel about your career & Tris ? Ever made any career decisions impacted by the fact that you Tri?

This is all fine and dandy until you get married and start having kids. At the very least (assuming you want to be in a relationship) find someone who likes the same thing as you and understands what kind of work is necessary to put in for such a devotion to tris. When you start having kids, be prepared for muuuuuuch less training volume until they get older (or you have an incredibly supportive spouse).

You're also 25, so you may very well be different in 10 years or so. However, for your sake, I hope you can always do what you love. You're young, so you're in the best position to do so. Good luck!

Not the decision you're looking for, but last Friday I decided I was pulling out of Ironman Lake Placid this year. It is entirely for business reasons. Things there are at a crucial point and I simply cannot afford the time for training and racing. It was a killer decision after 4 months of solid preparation, but it is the right one. I'm 51, have lots of people depending on me both within the company and in my personal life. As my coach said when I was agonizing over this "Ironman will always be there. There's always another race."

Brian, I'm really sorry to hear you won't be able to race IMLP.

I worked my tail off for five years as a reporter and then an editor in the Congressional press corps during unbelievably busy times (TARP, the auto bailout, the health care bill, several government shutdown threats...). A "normal" work week for me was usually around 60 hours, and I topped 100 hours a week several times. This was before I did triathlons, but I successfully trained for several marathons during that time and maintained a happy marriage. Because I worked so hard when I was younger, I'm now in a senior position at my company at the age of 30 and making significantly more money than my peers who didn't hustle as hard. I also now work only 40 hours a week with great flexibility.

Think hard before you decide to slack in your career when you're young. The success and direction of your career path is really determined in your 20s and early 30s -- it doesn't seem like a big deal when you're young and have few responsibilities, but now that I'm looking to buy a place and have a kid, I'm really glad I got so established in my career so quickly. Don't let a hobby take precedent over your future. (That said, I totally don't recommend 100 hour work weeks. Balance and moderation!)